Our Latest Cowboys 53-Man Projection - And 3 Trades That Can Form Roster

Mike Fisher

08/09/2016

OXNARD - My Latest Cowboys 53-Man Projection - And Three Viable Trades That Will Form This Roster

The Dallas Cowboys are more than halfway through training camp in Oxnard, with a preseason Game 1 to be played Saturday at LA against the Rams. What have we learned about the 53-man roster? Well, for one thing, that assembling it properly, in our eyes, necessitates three trades:

Quarterback (3):

Romo, Showers, Prescott -- Or it is Prescott and then Showers? Or, most important of all, is it a trade for Josh McCown (or someone like him to replace the injured Moore)? Jerry Jones keeps saying the kids keep impressing him so much that he might "stand pat'' and avoid bringing in another QB. ... but that goes against months and months of planning at this position. Here's the straight dope on the Cowboys QB hunt.

Running Back (3):

Elliott, Morris, Jackson -- I've said this from the start and there is no reason for me to change my thinking: Letting Dunbar start the season on PUP makes sense. And trading McFadden for ... something ... makes even more sense. Meanwhile, Zeke should return to work this week after bubblewrapping the hamstring. And that may be close to all that matters in this position group.

Fullback (1):

Smith --I don't know that this offense works very well when it uses one ... but this head coach likes to keep one.

Wide Receiver (6):

Bryant, Williams, Beasley, Whitehead, Butler, Jones - Jones is on his way to sending Devin Street packing ... and then the club needs to decide if if really needs to keep six instead of five ... because obviously, that sixth guy will never dress. So he'd better be a special prospect. The preseason games will be telling here. No, you don't need to see Dez. (Except at the JUGS Machine, where he's an "angry fun'' man. You need to see Butler push T-Will and you need to see Lucky possess the ball and you need to see if Jones is "special'' enough.

Tight End (4):

Witten, Escobar, Swaim, Gathers -- Odd circumstances here. Gathers hasn't earned anything. But Hanna has that "knee bruise'' (and you know what that might mean). Escobar is surprisingly healthy. And inside the team, there are high hopes for Swaim, who had a great Blue-White Scrimmage. Very much in flux here.

Offensive Line (9):

Smith, Collins, Frederick, Martin, Free, Leary, Looney, Green, Bradfield --There is some clarify here, I think. But one change is brewing: I've talked to Ron Leary about this numerous times now ... he doesn't want to make waves. But he does want to be traded. So this would be Trade No. 3 (behind the QB coming and McFadden going): Leary in exchange for an edge-rusher would really help. And I say that even as Leary has had a great camp.

Defensive Tackle (5):

T. Crawford, Thornton, T. McClain, Collins, J. Crawford -- This can be a decent rotation group if they're all healthy. But they're not. Tyrone Crawford tells me his back is not a major problem. Thornton tells us he has a virus, no biggie. McClain's toe? They oughta just amputate the damn thing.

Jones, Church, Heath, Wilcox (S), Scandrick, Carr, Claiborne, Brown, Olatoye (CB) -- This group is making it easy on us. We missed badly (so far) on thinking the rookie Frazier was going to steal Wilcox' roster spot. Right now, Frazier looks like P-squad fodder. Claiborne has been a standout here. Healthy and confident ... which breeds more of the same.

Specialists (3):

Bailey, Jones,Ladouceur -- I enjoy my conversations with Dan Bailey almost as much as I enjoy watching him virtually never miss a kick.